<p>Can anybody suggest how I should study for the SAT writing section. I have the essay down it's just the MC I need help with. I've learned the rules, but basically I'm having a tremendously difficult time identifying the grammar rules in the problems.</p>
<p>BlahBlahBlah1,</p>
<p>Do lots of practice tests, and when you are scoring yourself, circle the problems you get wrong. Afterwards, look at the explanations and make sure you understand what you got wrong (enough so that if you were to take the same test again, you would get full score). What I like to do is write down what I have to work on, for example “idioms” or “transitions” and go over the rules for them again, doing the corresponding practice questions that follow it.</p>
<p>Hope I helped,
SilverAurora</p>
<p>If you know your grammar rules thats terrific!</p>
<p>The thing with the writing section is that youre not supposed to run down your grammar checklist and make sure everything works out in each question, rather you’re supposed to read the sentence and if you notice that the tense or diction, etc, is off, and it needs to be corrected, then you turn to your grammar knowledge and fix it. Of course, it sounds like a lengthy process, but the truth is when you read a question your brain will automatically sense somethings off. Then again, reading a difficult question might take a few reads and be much harder to identify, but nonetheless, your grammar knowledge will kick in like a rush of adrenaline!</p>
<p>BlahBlahBlah1,</p>
<p>Firstly, you’ll need to identify what you’re having trouble with. Is it the MC? The essay? Everything? The best study guide I can give you is this: do a few sections and see what’s tripping you up. You’ll notice consistencies, and if you don’t, thats ok. Do the sections untimed, and really do your best on them. Without the element of time, a lot of pressure is off and you can focus on LEARNING. That’s the most important step. People just jump in at 25 minutes a section and it isn’t enough. At that point, use the Sparknotes Writing Guide. Its free but phenomenal. It really hits the big rules that constantly show up, once you master those, focus on their smaller rules which really pushes your score up there. If the essay is your problem just post it here on the forums, and people give great feedback. You can do it. Just do sections untimed at first to get it down. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the types of questions and format, you’re ready to read rules, do sections, learn from your mistakes and repeat. Hope I helped, best of luck :)!</p>
<p>~Aceventura74</p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments. Are there any other books/writing guides that may complement work in the BB well and have explained answers? I find the CB answers for the writing section not very comprehensive and very perplexing. May be something with more thorough explanations?</p>
<p>If you’re having difficulty with questions tagged in the BB as easy or medium difficulty, I encourage you to go back to basics and formally review the big rules of English grammar. A good (and short book) is English Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Woods. It’s inexpensive and reader friendly. Also write more! And when you do pay attention to grammar in everything you write. That will serve to reinforce correct grammar for you.</p>
<p>Once you get beyond the easy and medium difficulty questions, go back to the sample exams and proceed as others have recommended.</p>